Available files

Samoan People in New Zealand

Samoan People in New Zealand is one of a set of seven profiles on Pacific peoples based on results from the 2001 Census of Population and Dwellings. Comparisons are made between Samoans born in New Zealand and those born overseas, as well as with the total Pacific and total New Zealand resident populations.

In 2001, Samoan people were the single largest Pacific ethnic group, comprising 115,000 or 50 percent of New Zealand’s Pacific population (231,800).

The Samoan population increased by 12,700 or 12 percent between 1996 and 2001.

In 2001, the median age, or midpoint of the Samoan age distribution, was 20.9 years. By comparison, the national median age was 34.8 years.

Samoans born in New Zealand accounted for 58 percent of the total Samoan population in New Zealand in 2001 – compared with 49 percent in 1991.

In 2001, 67 percent of Samoan people (with a language) were able to hold an everyday conversation in Samoan – the same proportion as in 1996.